This is our current favorite recipe - undoubtedly it would be better if made with homemade stock, but that's one of those things I just never seem to get around to. We don't bother with the large bread croutons - we just sprinkle regular croutons over the top of the soup (Musso's Cheese and Garlic are great!), then lay a couple of slices of Jack cheese and some Parmesan on top before broiling. Becky * Exported from MasterCook * French Onion Soup Gratinee Recipe By : Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 4 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon salt 2 large red onions -- thinly sliced 2 large sweet onions -- thinly sliced 1 can chicken broth -- (48 fluid ounce) 1 can beef broth -- (14 ounce) 1/2 cup red wine 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2 sprigs fresh parsley 1 sprig fresh thyme 1 bay leaf 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar salt and freshly ground black pepper -- to taste 4 thick slices French or Italian bread 8 slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese -- at room temperature 1/2 cup shredded Asiago or mozzarella cheese -- at room temperature 4 pinches paprika 1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in salt, red onions and sweet onions. Cook 35 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are caramelized and almost syrupy. 2. Mix chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and Worcestershire sauce into pot. Bundle the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf with twine and place in pot. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the herbs. Reduce the heat to low, mix in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep over low heat to stay hot while you prepare the bread. 3. Preheat oven broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet and broil 3 minutes, turning once, until well toasted on both sides. Remove from heat; do not turn off broiler. 4. Arrange 4 large oven safe bowls or crocks on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each bowl 2/3 full with hot soup. Top each bowl with 1 slice toasted bread, 2 slice Gruyere cheese and 1/4 of the Asiago or mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a little bit of paprika over the top of each one. 5. Broil 5 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown. As it softens, the cheese will cascade over the sides of the crock and form a beautifully melted crusty seal. Serve immediately! Source: "www.allrecipes.com" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : 11-26-07 Made using croutons instead of bread, with Jack and Parmesan cheese. Used 1 teaspoon dried thyme.

Here's the recipe I've used for many years. FRENCH ONION SOUP - serves 4 to 6 3 Tbs. butter 4 large sweet onions (about 1 1/2 pounds total), peeled and thinly sliced 1 tsp. sugar (optional, see note) 1 cup dry white wine 2 quarts beef broth 2 ribs celery with leaves, each rib cut in half Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 1/4 cup dry fino sherry 4 to 6 slices baguette, cut 1/2 inch thick, lightly toasted 1/4 cup coarsely grated Emmental, Gruyere, or other Swiss-type cheese Melt the butter in a 3 or 4 quart saucepan over low heat. Add the onions and sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly caramelized, a minimum of 30 minutes. (The longer the onions cook slowly, the richer the flavor of the soup.) Add the white wine and cook over medium-high heat until the wine reduces to about half, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, celery, salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially, and allow the soup to simmer until the onions are meltingly tender, about 40 minutes. Remove and discard the celery. Add the sherry and simmer soup for another 5 minutes. To serve, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Ladle the soup into individual ovenproof bowls. Top each with 1 slice of bread, sprinkle with 1 Tbs. cheese, and place the bowls on a cookie sheet. Heat in the center of the preheated oven just until the cheese melts and bubbles, 5 to 6 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and serve at once. Source: La Bonne Soupe - NYC Note: The tiny bit of sugar added to the onions helps caramelize them, but the onions themselves will caramelize if they�re sweet enough and if you�re patient enough. I never use it, just keep them cooking. I always use firm yellow onions. The large white onions don�t seem to get soft enough and vidalias become soft but have such a bland flavor when cooked. Also, this is the original recipe from the restaurant but I bake the baguette slices with the cheese by themselves and then float them on the soup.

I made the recipe this morning and it simmered all day. I used my 3.5 qt crock pot since my big 6 qt was still soaking from the crock pot lima beans last night. We bought focaccia bread. We use the big 16 oz. soup mugs, so we toasted the bread, then put the cheese on top and put the mugs in the broiler to allow the cheese to brown. It's delicious! I made the original recipe and didn't double since the smaller crock pot wouldn't hold that much. That was enough for a full mug each for each of us. Next time, I'll probably wash the big crock if it's dirty and use it so we have enough for two meals. DH loves it too! We both love French onion soup, but this is the first time in almost 20 years of marriage that we've made it at home.

I regularly caramelize onions in my crockpot. I slice enough onions to fill it, which is about 5 lbs or so. I get a bag from Costco and do the whole lot, sometimes in 2 batches. I add a stick of butter and turn it on. At the start the onions give off liquid so you get a soupy mix, but as the liquid is cooked off, you'll see the onions caramelize in their own sugars. I don't add anything, no sugar, no salt. I don't find it necessary but your taste may not be the same as mine. Once it's deeply caramelized (for me it takes most of a day), you can do whatever you like. We freeze in portions to be put on pizza, or eaten with tortillas, or added to soups, stews or sauces. Cheryl